This invention relates to a child's tricycle and particularly to a construction for selectively inhibiting the steering action of the front wheel of a child's tricycle.
A typical child's tricycle, as shown in FIG. 7, is constructed so that a handle assembly 6 having a single front wheel 4 and a handle 5, is pivotally mounted on a vehicle body 3 having a saddle 1 and two rear wheels 2, said handle assembly being rotatable around the axis of a steering shaft 7. The front wheel 4 has pedals 9 attached thereto through a crank shaft 8. Usually, a child, sitting on the saddle 1, enjoys a ride on this tricycle with his feet placed on the pedals 9 to drive the front wheel 4 and with his hands gripping the handle 5 for steering.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a tricycle is provided with a novel manual push handle 10 at a suitable level on the vehicle body 3 for pushing the tricycle forward from behind through the push handle 10 which extends substantially upwardly from the saddle.
When attention is given to the handle assembly 6, particularly to the steerable arrangement of the front wheel 4, it is seen that this function, which is necessary when a child is riding on the tricycle by driving the pedals 9, is more obstructive than useful when the child pushes the tricycle from behind through the push handle 10. The reason is that in the case where the tricycle is pushed from behind, with the hands not reaching the steering handle 5 the front wheel 4 will be directed away from the course of movement of the tricycle. Therefore, the way of play in which the tricycle is pushed from behind, is virtually impossible unless one child rides on the tricycle and another pushes it from behind.